Welcome to The Urban Daddy weblog. Not your typical "Daddy" blog because I am not your typical Daddy. Originating from Toronto, Ontario, Canada in 2004. Follow our exploits as we proceed through life with the odds stacked against us. Three of them and two of us.

What? Around the corner from my house, backing on to the park that all the local kids play at, and what is this I hear about the backyard being booby-trapped. A neighbour was told by the police this afternoon that the backyard – whose gate was open – was booby-trapped in order to keep trespassers out. Turns out the police scared a squirrel that was in the yard before they walked in, and the squirrel did not make it.

Nice. Safe. And to think I actually had one foot in this backyard picking up my neighbours soccer ball.

So this is what happened last night that lead to the surrounding area being roped off by the cops.

A suspicious chemical odour (acetone – which smells like nail polish remover) led authorities to a meth lab inside a home in one of the city’s most sought-after neighbourhoods.

Toronto police closed off a block of Woburn Avenue near Avenue Road, located in Toronto’s quiet Bedford Park community, while they investigated the duplex. The street address was 438 and 440 Woburn. These properties were sold in 2008 for $810,000.00 each to a developer who was going to tear them down and put up three houses. The economy went south and the developer rented them out, in this case to an individual met over the internet.

“This was a full methamphetamine lab,” Staff Sgt. Jim Qualtrough of the Toronto Police drug squad told reporters on Wednesday.

“What is particularly disturbing in this case is this lab is right in the middle of a residential neighbourhood,” said Staff Inspector Mario Di Tomaso. “Because of the volatile chemicals that are used, they are a great danger to neighbours.”

If you look in this picture you see the house on the left and behind is the “chicken park” called that because of the KFC right beside it. Pretty much anytime you are in the park, you can smell the fried chicken. Local kids play there during the day with their parents and nannies.

No one was inside the home at the time of the discovery and as of Wednesday evening, no arrests had been made.

I guess there are some lessons to be learned from this fiasco.

1) Never rent to someone you meet over the internet

2) If you are going to run a meth lab, please keep it away from parks

3) Know your neighbours!

4) This area has been called desirable and ritzy. What do you think that will do to my property value?

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5 thoughts on “A Crystal Meth Lab, you say???”

They always pick the nice neighbourhoods. We had 4 houses being used as grow ops in our neighbourhood last year and we live in the most expensive subdivision in our city. Maybe they figure the police are checking around these neighbourhoods less? Scary though when it is so close to home.

Came across your blog while looking for some articles on “Meth”. Cannot believe what people do these days… We all work hard day in and day out in order to provide a better life for our kids but these scumbags make and sell illegal drugs which kill people and cause them to lie, cheat and steal, and they get all the cash. Who else can afford not one, but 2 $800,000 houses, rented or not.

I think the builder that rented the houses should be held liable and once they find these guys the government needs to reposess all their assets and treat them like the tax evaders they are.

You have to be careful with the chemicals that leech out from meth labs. Is it really close to the park? Do the kids play near the house? Does the land slope downhill? It’s scary how dangerous it all is, and the criminals who open these abs don’t care about the lab workers or their own health because they usually die from OD or from being caught up in the action.

Maybe an enviromnetal assessment should be performed. Check with your government.